Disclaimer: Eh … no … not mine …
A/N: What? Only two little, lonely reviews? Is this the punishment for letting you wait two weeks instead of one? Oh, you're mean ._. But here is the next chapter, and I also got over my little writer's block, so there should be the next chapter ready next Saturday. But only if I get more reviews … eh, no, I don't like to take my poor little chapters as hostage … anyway, here we go :D
Again, oddood did her magic to this chapter … She is a true angel!
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Chapter Four – Pain
"How did you manage this?", the Master asked surprised, and walked unsteadily into the room. To his astonishment, the console of the Tardis was open on one side, just a crack, but out of it seeped mild and golden light.
"The old girl still owed me a favour." The Doctor passed him and touched gently one of the countless levers of the console. "I searched for other ways, everywhere, but it seems there are no others", he explained and looked to the Master. "So I thought that desperate times called for entirely legitimate desperate methods."
"Oh, it has to be a really desperate time then!" The Master grinned and sprinted to the open console. With a quick movement he took off the helmet and simultaneously opened the cover complete, ready to absorb the Time Vortex.
The golden light surrounded him, fondled him, and pervaded him. The Master took a deep breath; felt how the light made him stronger and healed his maltreated body. He could see time and space spread out in front of him, and it felt so good …
Taptaptap tap.
No, no, no. Not the drums. It hurts …
It shouldn't hurt …
Taptaptap tap.
He gripped his head and cried out in pain. Please, let the drums go away, he pleaded, but no one saved him. The light only blinded him now. It wasn't friendly anymore, only tantalising, it burned, everything burned …
At the edge of his mind he noticed how two arms were put around his chest and how he was pulled away from the fire, the fire, which had been his rescue. At last he had the energy to close his eyes, to stop the glistening light from penetrating his mind, and at last the tantalising fire in his head became weaker, until it finally ceased.
Only slowly he returned to reality, and the first thing he perceived somehow clearly was that he lying on the floor, and the anxious face of the Doctor above him.
This became an annoying repetition, somehow.
"Master?"
The Doctor's voice was dull, as if the world was wrapped in cotton, and yet the Master could hear the concern and fear in this single word.
"Always great to see your face," the Master mumbled with an effort. His throat felt like he had eaten red-hot iron rods. There was a gentle snap in his ears and the cotton vanished.
"Thank Rassilon, you're ok!" the Doctor sighed relieved and pulled the Master into a close embrace.
"Damn, get off me!" the Master yelled, which his tormented voice requited with a persistent coughing fit. He shook off the Doctor's embrace and sat up so he could ease his lungs a bit, but even in the upright position he needed a moment to return to normal breathing.
His look fell on some blue shreds in his lap, and he recognised them as the leftovers of the pyjama he had worn instead of his normal clothing. He took some pieces of the partly charred, partly tattered fabric and pulverised it without any problem.
"What the hell has happened?" he asked.
"I don't know", the Doctor said quietly. The Master looked up from his destroyed clothes, directly into the face of the other Timelord.
"And I thought you wanted to save me …" the Master said thoughtfully, keeping an eye on the Doctor.
"I … I didn't plan this …" the Doctor explained and let his eyes travel over the console next to him. "I attached a filter which should prevent being able to absorb the whole time vortex, but apparently it didn't work the way it should and … and …" He stopped and took a deep breath.
"It started good, the light healed you, but then you screamed, and suddenly you burned …" He looked up to meet the Master's gaze, held the eye-contact. "I don't know what happened, or why it happened, but the last thing I wanted was to hurt you!"
"But it did hurt …" The Master broke off, ruffled his short blonde hair and burrowed his head in his hands. "The drums … the drums were back in my head, and it hurt so much …" He looked up. "They will never vanish, will they, Doctor? The drums, they are still in there, aren't they?" He tapped on his forehead, onetwothreefour, and smiled a desperate smile.
The Doctor swallowed and tried to get rid of the lump in his throat, but he didn't find any words. He nodded.
The Master, in turn, kept his eyes on the Doctor and tried to guess the Doctor's thoughts from the few motions he saw.
Which was not that difficult.
Poor Master. Confused, lost, crazy.
What had happened to them? Two almighty Time Lords, cowering on the ground like scared children.
He didn't want any pity from the Doctor.
He wanted anger, hate, rage, but no pity.
Pity was dangerous. It made him vulnerable, and the last thing the Master wanted to be was vulnerable.
Especially not with the Doctor around.
He has saved your live. Repeatedly.
Great, Koschei was still there, too. It couldn't be better! The Drums and now also Koschei's damned screech. This combination could drive everyone mad.
This thought put a smile on his lips. He was already mad, wasn't he?
Somehow surprised, he observed that he rocked back and forth since a while. It was a comforting movement. Reminded him of a swing. He liked swings.
"Master?" The voice came from a great distant and had a familiar ring.
"Master?"
The Master is not here at the moment, please leave a message after the tone.
*DW*
The Doctor had jumped to his feet, completely terrified, as the Master had fallen in this form of complete lethargy. The Time Lord just sat there, his knees pulled to the front of his chest, the arms entwined around them; his gaze was lost somewhere, his lips continuously formed soundless words.
Even shaking and yelling at him could not pull him out of this.
Like a captured predator he had walked up and down, tearing at his hair again and again, desperate because he didn't know what he should do.
Oh, he knew pretty well how he could reach the Master. Very exactly, actually.
But he didn't know if he dared to do it.
One never should touch the mind of an insane. It could happen that you lose your own connection to reality and are trapped forever more.
But he owed it to the Master … as a friend.
So he knelt down, breathed in, breathed out. He just must not loose control.
His fingertips gently touched the Master's temples. He pushed only slightly against the door, and to his surprise there was nearly no resistance.
Welcome to hell.
*+DW+*
Eh … yeah … I know, cliffhanger xD I like cliffies. They stimulate certain readers to push this little green button …